Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 12:13-21
Rev. Neli Miranda
In today’s Gospel, we encounter a man who approaches Jesus, demanding
intervention in the distribution of a family inheritance: “Teacher, tell my
brother to divide the family inheritance with me” (12,13). Jesus’s
response is both swift and revealing: “Friend, who appointed me a judge or
arbitrator over you?” (12,14). He
quickly shifts from the legal issue to the deeper spiritual concern at hand.
The man, likely the younger brother seeking his one-third share under Judaic
law, wants a mediator for his financial dispute. Instead of taking sides, Jesus
turns to his disciples and the surrounding crowd with a warning. Having just
taught them, in the previous verses, what and whom to fear, he adds a new
danger to the list: greed. "Watch out!" he says, "Be
on your guard against all kinds of greed" (12,15). He identifies greed
as a corrosive force, a form of idolatry where the self is placed at the center
of the universe.
Jesus
then shares a parable about a rich man whose land produces an abundant crop,
which in the theology of the day would be seen as a generous blessing from God.
Yet, the man’s reaction is one of anxious self-absorption. With barns already
full, his internal monologue: “What should I do, for I have no place to
store my crops?” (12,17) reveals his selfishness. He speaks to himself,
about himself, for himself!!
At
first glance, we might ask: “what’s wrong with planning and saving for the
future? Is not saving a wise and responsible practice?” The crucial difference lies in the motive and
the mindset. The rich man’s sin is in his failure to see beyond himself.
In this moment of great abundance, there is no gratitude to God, no
consideration for his workers and the poor at his gate, no sense of community
or obligation. He has forgotten his Creator and his neighbors!!
The
problem is not planning for retirement; but it is a retirement plan built for
an audience of one. The man’s failure is forgetting God as the source of all
provision while neglecting his neighbors, those in need. This mindset is
precisely what St. Paul warns against in Colossians when he urges us to “set
your minds on things that are above” (3,2). He commands us to put to death
earthly things, including greed!!
The rich man in the parable is called a “fool” not because he was a bad
businessman, but because he answered life’s ultimate questions incorrectly. He
has measured his life in terms of grain, and his security rested in barns.
God’s message exposes the futility of this approach: “This very night your
life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for
yourself?” (13,20). This is the
heart of the matter. Jesus concludes saying: “So it is with those who store
up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God” (13,21). To be “rich
toward God” means to operate with a different currency, to build a
different investment—one invested in gratitude, generosity, and relationships.
It involves holding our possessions loosely, recognizing them as tools for
blessing others rather than treasures for hoarding.
The parable leaves us with a profound choice. We can spend our lives
anxiously building bigger barns for ourselves, living in fear of not having
enough. Or, we can accept the Father's loving invitation, the one Jesus offers
just a few verses later: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father
has been pleased to give you the kingdom” (12,32). True and lasting
security is not found in what we can store up on earth, but in resting in the
abundant generosity of the One who gives us the Kingdom itself.
Sisters and brothers, is our barn filled with abundant crops? Let us
open its doors and share what is found there! Amen
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